Morning,

Replaced the front brakes on my car last monday and can honestly say that it took a bit but once you get around to doing it the first time, it will be much easier the next time! I do however need some help from more experienced owners on this site...

After about a week of driving I noticed a wheel squeak. It takes a few minutes of driving for it to come out, and usually it will after braking while turning, but once its there it'll be fairly constant and rotational. Lightly pressing the brake pedal will quiet it without engaging the brakes.

I took it apart yesterday and checked the shims. I put disc quiet (the red stuff) between the shims and the pads so I thought it was good. I noticed a bit got on the caliper piston so I cleaned it up. I noticed the retainer clip on the drivers side pushed the brake out to the point where I have to press it in a bit. On the passenger side, the brakes stay in place. Which side is more normal?

I will probably take off the passenger side again (since my girl swears its louder there) and probably regrease the caliper piston and retaining clips since
this is the only area I am not sure about greasing with some all purpose.

After that I will drive it around for 1k to see if it goes away on its own since I would have run out of options.....

btw if you change the front pads do you have to bleed out the rear? the sequence goes : Driver- Passenger- rear passenger-rear driver.....

The pads I picked up are EBC Ultimax the rotors I threw on were some drilled and slotted rotors from powersport on ebay (cast iron)

Any constructive input on the best way to resolve this is appreciated.

 

Did you bed-in the brakes? Did you use carb/brake cleaner when putting the new pads (and rotors) on?

I would dare blame the noise on the rotor/pad combo, though.

 

Bed in as in hitting the brakes real hard a few times? I would try that with no traffic around of course.

 

[Bed-in details and procedures

 

A few question,
Did you replace the hardware?
Use brake lub and anti squeak?
Did you do just a pad slap?

I always turn (resurface) my rotors when doing brakes it does help with the bedding of new pads. keep us posted

 

The EBC's came with shims so I put some Disc Quiet (red gunk) between the pad and the shim.

I reused the retainer clips that seat in to the caliper and the clip that goes into each pad. I pulled them out and used plenty of brake cleaner on it and the caliper.

I replaced the rotors since I dont like turning them.

I ordered 4 new rotor screws to replace those also.

I pulled the wheels off the other day and added lube to the caliper side of the shim.

I should have lubbed up the retainer clips but didnt. If the noise doesnt go away completely by next week, I'll go back in and do that and maybe rub some sandpaper on the pads and redo the bed in procedure....

 

First apply the brake grease to the retainer clips and anywhere else it's supposed to be used. Including where the shims touch the pads, where the piston contacts the shims, anywhere the retainer clips make contact, etc.

If you're going to troubleshoot the noise, you need to first rule out the most common, known causes of brake squeal.

Basically, you need to first install it correctly if you're trying to figure out what's wrong.

 

Here's the step, directly from the Fit's shop manual.

Don't forget the piston too. The arrows pointing to it are there, but some people would probably miss it anyways.

 

Why don't you like turning them? Also Doc is on piont.

 

aside from the fact that unless you have your own machine shop to turn them, you would have to take them off the car, get a ride to a shop that does, pay them approximately the cost of new rotors to refinish them, then return to your half completed brake job to finish?

I dont see any reason

 

Well you could put new ones on the 1st time you do your brakes, then take the old ones to a shop to have them turn. I turn my own rotors because I work at a shop, at which we only charge people $15 per rotor to turn them. Pep boys I think is like $19 per rotor. After that you can repeat the process.

 

ah rotor rotation.. touche :P

 

+ 1 on the anti Squeal Grease. Goodluck OP. Btw for the people who gets their rotors turned. How many times can you get them turned before you cant?

 

Quick question doom: I didn't used assembly paste, instead using disc quiet (red stuff). Should I put that on the piston? I read elsewhere to keep grease away from it, wondering if disc quiet paste might be more harmful to the piston seals?

 

Theres a machine-to specification, if they measure under then replace them.

 

It may help if you file off the corners of the pads where they contact the rotor. just miter the corner a few thousandths, not a quarter-inch. And make sure the pad is squeezed squarely on the rotor, that is, the pad is not thinner top vs bottom or sides. Since iys difficult to push the piston at an angle (but not impossible) usually we find a hangup on the edge of the pad. We've also encountered a pad that doesn't quite retract when brakes released but the squeal shows up on very light brake application or none at all.
good luck.

 

You don't have to use specifically Honda's 'assembly paste,' just any high-temp brake grease that's made for the calipers and backs of pads.

I've never used the stuff you used, so I don't know about that, but I've never heard of brake grease damaging piston seals? It's kinda a universal thing when you're changing brakes pads to add brake grease to the contact points. That way the grease dampens the high-frequency vibrations, which you would hear as a high-pitched squeal or squeak.

Also, did you re-use all of the parts labeled 'A' in the diagram I posted? Those were originally there to help prevent brake noise as well.

 

Doom-

Thanks for the reply. Last night I took everything out again, and regreased the retainer clips, piston surface and just about all metal contacts.

I used the crc disc quiet again on the backside of all shims. I noticed the EBC's came with metal backs to which I adhered the shims it came with. In the photo you post there are what seems to be 2 shims on the inboard pad....if that is the case I need to get another as I only have 1 shim clipped on per pad.

I let the red past dry overnight as it was very pasty and I didnt want the caliper to wipe it off on reassembly. This red paste dries into what is like a rubber barrier.

This morning I reassembled it and had to push the pistons flush in order to get the caliper to slide over the new layer on the pads.

I will test it out as soon as I finish taking advantage of this beautiful morning in Jersey to wash the car and do a bit of riding!

crossing my fingers...

 

sometime those rotor screws will back out and start touching your wheel and make that noise. discard the screws, you dont need them.

this could be your noise. it was mine a long time ago..

 

I thought the same thing since one three went in flush and one was poking out a bit after I fought it in.

The stock wheels on the 09 have openings where the screws would be though so that and the tightness of the the screws lead me to rule that out.

I am really thinking it was the grease and ensuring there is a barrier between all points of metal on metal contact...I'm about to head out in a few so I'll update them

also FYI if you push the piston back, press in the pedal a few times to increase pressure. I was in my driveway and had a bit of a panic when the pedal sank to the floor ! lol